Six days to make things right
by Kerrynes
Summary: Alfred was convinced that the student exchange to England would be tedious and boring. That was, however, before he met his exchange-brother Arthur. AU. UsUkUs.
1. Prolouge

_Author's note: _ «German» "English" This is important, since the story takes place in Germany at the beginning. (I needed a place in Europe as a setting: Alfred can't be American because they (normally) don't do student-exchanges to Britain (and if they do, it's freaking expensive). And the exchange is... well a vital plot point. So...)  
Like always, reviews and faves are warmly welcome, and if you spot an error, tell me~

* * *

**Prolouge**

Alfred F. Jones lay back in the uncomfortable, green padded chair in the assembly hall of his school.

He only listened to his teacher, who was talking about stuff concerning an exchange, half-hearted and his eyes didn't even look at the papers in his hand.

They were going to do a student exchange to England in two weeks, and Alfred felt like he was the only one who wasn't thrilled. Well, apart from Gilbert, who had a rather bored expression on his face. And Alfred could relate: The whole thing sounded rather tedious to him. Luckily, it was only one week they had to spend there.

Mr Wang, the Chinese professor for History and Business Management, who never missed a chance to remind them what a great deal it was that they were able to visit Great Britain for just 300 Euros, already covered the prohibition of alcohol, drugs, weapons and... Energy drinks?!

«Also, please limit the usage of the shower to ten minutes» -some girls groaned- «and remember that there is no power in English bathrooms.»

Gilbert raised his hand.

«Mr Beilschmidt?»

The white-haired German folded his arms and asked: «Can they at least speak_ some_ German?»

Quiet giggling and some sarcastic comments filled the room, but Mr Wang's face was just stern.

«I mean, you know that my English is not so good.»

Alfred sighed. Sometimes he felt a little lonely in this school.

Not that he was unpopular, mind you, but he just didn't feel at home.

The reason for that was probably that he had only moved to this little German village 6 years ago.

Before, he was a proud citizen of the US of A, but then his father was transferred here by the company he worked for.

And so little Alfred had to struggle with all those crazy Europeans: Seriously, he hadn't even known before that there was a world outside of the US!

So while all his classmates were nervous that they had to speak English during the exchange, he was kinda glad to take a break from this complicated, German language. Just speaking his mother-tongue at home did nothing, since his parents were at work most of the time either way. And don't get him started on his brother!

«Yes, they can.»

Alfred was startled when the voice interrupted his train of mind, but he relaxed when he remembered he was still sitting in the assembly hall. He shouldn't let his mind wander so often.

«They know Kindergarten, Doppelgänger, jawohl and Blitzkrieg.», Mr Wang answered Gilbert's question, his face unmoved.

The student's laughter became louder. «Very funny.», Gilbert hissed through gritted teeth.

«By the by, I don't really think that it's such a good idea to put you, Carriedo and Bonnefoy in one family». The teacher scribbled something into his notebook. «I'm going to talk about that matter with your homeroom-teacher.» His eyes quickly flicked to him. «Later.»

Alfred heard Gilbert mumbling something, but he wasn't paying attention anymore.

Really, was this exchange seriously necessary?

He'd rather stay at home and play video games.

Honestly.

* * *

«Man»

Alfred winced when Gilbert's hot breath tickled his ear. He quickly pulled away, ramming his best friend Kiku, who sat next to him.

«Sorry, dude.», he muttered. Then he turned to the pale German. «What the hell do you want?»

Gilbert brushed his fingers through his short hair nervously.

«I thought that if Wang's serious and pulls me, Francis and Antonio apart, I could join you?»

Alfred lifted his eyebrows. What made Gilbert think that the long-haired teacher would do that? Seriously, did he miss something? «I have no clue what you're talking about, dude, but I guess the answer's no.»

Gilbert narrowed his eyes. «Fuck you, Alfred.»

He turned away and stomped down the hallway angrily.

Alfred sighed. He and Kiku were sitting in the cafeteria, leaning over a shopping list. He felt like a girl.

But the fact that most items on said list were candy eased that feeling a little bit: It was the list of things to buy before the classtrip, and they decided to divide it evently.

«I'm going to buy the chips and the coke, if you don't mind.», Kiku said.

«And I'll bring cookies, gummy bears and energy drinks.»

Kiku spun around quickly, looking at him shocked. «Bu-But Alfred-kun! We were told that we...»

«Ah, come on!», Alfred interrupted him. «_Nobody's_ going to take that stupid prohibition serious! And I need that stuff to stay awake!»

He grabbed his short Japanese friend by the shoulders. «The bus trip's gonna take 10 frickin' hours! Gimme a break!»

Kiku sighed, his eyes focused the ground. «Alright. But you're going to put it in _your_ luggage. I've got nothing to do with it.»


	2. Day 1

~Are you going to Scarborough fair?~

~Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.~

~Remember me to one who lives there,~

~as he once was a true love of mine. ~

**Day 1**

«I don't waaaant»!, Alfred complained as he was climbing onto the bus Sunday morning.

It was half past seven.

Half past seven on a weekend. Alfred was completely sure that his teachers were sadists. Every single one of them.

He had told Kiku so the night before, when he was kneeling in front of his bag, stuffing his clothes into it with one hand and holding the phone with the other. Kiku hadn't agreed. The reason for it was probably that Mr Wang was his stepbrother. Or something.

«Me neither, my friend.» Gilbert said, making his way through the bus, trying not to trip about the luggage some other students had placed carelessly in the middle of the bus, since it hadn't fit in the trunk. Alfred smiled, even though he was a little annoyed: He had never liked the brash German. Why did he call him a friend? Still, he answered him: «Do ya think they'll let me back home if I tell'em that the fourth of July is my favorite day of the year?»

He paused for a moment. It wasn't even a lie: The fourth of July WAS his favorite day: the fireworks, which were so colorful and loud. He had always liked loud things. Also, it was his birthday, and every July he felt like the fireworks were only fired for him: It was an awesome feeling.

«I dunno, but let me tell you one thing: Ludwig is a prick for not helping me with my English.», Gilbert said. «He didn't even let me borrow his dictionary.» He sat down next to Antonio, his Spanish friend. «I don't even know what '_Ich werde duschen gehen'_ means!» He sniffed.

Francis, another friend of him, cackled quietly:

«In that case, I guess you're not going to shower at all?»

Alfred, who sat down next to Kiku in the third row, started laughing.

He liked Francis better than Gilbert, yes, Francis was okay.

But his laughter quickly died away when he noticed that Kiku had a rather painful expression on his face.

He was holding his stomach.

«Kiku»?, Alfred asked. «Aren't you feeling well? You look horrible!» He poked his friend with his elbow. «Did you eat too much sushi?»

The Japanese forced a faint smile. «No, I assure you, everything is all right.»

Alfred left it at that. Instead, he focused on the instructions Mr Wang was giving them.

They were going to drive to Calais first, then get on a ferry which will bring them to Dover. Their host-families will be waiting there and picking them up.

The students were housed in four small villages in southwest-England. Alfred had already forgotten their names. It wasn't important anyway.

The two buses, filled with around 120 students, crossed the border to France at 3 o'clock. It was then when Francis started talking about the "beauty of this blessed country". He didn't even think about shutting up. He had French roots or something. And the girls that were singing all the time finally fell asleep.

Then, at half past 5, they were ready to go on the ferry, but first, their passports where controlled.

"Shit", Alfred muttered as he was digging around in his carry-on baggage.

«Have you lost it?», Kiku asked, slightly panicking.

«No», Alfred sighed. «But I look horrible on it. Like a terrorist or something.»

At 7 o'clock, they finally got out of the bus in Dover.

Alfred's back hurt like hell. «10 frickin' hours!», was all he could say. «10 frickin' hours...»

* * *

Arthur Kirkland clutched the chocolate at his chest. He had bought it yesterday. It was meant to be some sort of a welcoming-gift for the exchange student.

His family did that every month, letting students from other countries live with them. It earned them some extra money, and that surely wasn't a bad thing, was it?

The conditions of being a host-family were simple: Make sure the foreigners enjoy themselves by visiting some attractions and get your money.

Arthur hated it.

Most of the exchange students were rude and uninterested in his country's culture. They spent their time shopping, and after a week, they were gone to never been seen again.

He expected it to be the same again this year. Nonetheless, he tried to force a smile on his thin lips to appear friendly. Maybe it would work for a moment, but the impression of 'friendly' would fade shortly after Arthur opened his mouth. He just wasn't a nice person. He had thought a lot about it, and it was probably because he always said out loud what he thought. And he was really sarcastic, which tended to scare other people away.

His feet started to hurt. He was standing on this grey car park for what felt like hours, while the rest of his family sat in the warm, blue fiat.

It was his job to greet the foreign students. One could think that this would be a bad idea since he always appeared so mean, but it was pretty cool outside, so the family chose the least popular sibling to stand in the cold.

Him.

Finally, after what felt like eternity, two buses drove on the car park, and students started to get out of the buses.

A human-bulb formed at the trunks, since everybody wanted to get their luggage first.

After that, that students talked to a small teacher with long, brown hair.

Arthur knew that she was telling them which family was theirs.

He clutched his eyes shut, and took a deep breath. Maybe he was lucky this year. Maybe the students would be polite and friendly. A small glimpse of hope raise inside his chest, but it was washed away quickly when he heard a high, slightly accented voice say: "Hey, dude, are you by any chance Mr. Kirkland? I'm not sure since you are pretty short. You don't look like a dad at all."

He knew this accent: There was only one race on this planet that stressed every one-sylbed words into seven syllabes: _Americans._

Americans were, without any doubt, the most annoying and ignorant species this world had to offer. It was rather despairing to have one of them at your side for longer than half an hour.

He carefully opened his eyes.

Joyful, blue eyes looked back at him, a big grin on the lips, neat blond hair. That was, without any doubt, the American that spoke before. The baggy jeans and the buff leather jacket just screamed that conclusion at him.

Next to the blond stood a rather small, black haired boy with small brown eyes. He appeared to be Asian or something like that.

He bowed and said: "Good evening. I apologize that my partner is so rude. He doesn't mean to, but sometimes he's a little bit, uhm..."

The Asian boy didn't look up, just intensified the stare on his shoe tips.

"Well, he doesn't think before he speaks."

"I heard that.", Arthur grumbled, shooting another look at the blond. "But yes, I am the person you're looking after."

He extended his hand to the smaller boy, who took it and shook it carefully.

"My name is Arthur Kirkland, and it appears I'll be your exchange-brother for the week."

He shot the bigger boy a snootily look. "What a pleasure.", he sneered.

"W-well, I am Kiku Honda, and I'm very happy to make your acquaintance.", the black-haired one stuttered.

"And I'm Alfred F. Jones, here to bring a little sunshine to this nasty part of the world!", the blond shouted with a happy smile.

Arthur grimaced. Kiku didn't seem so bad, but Alfred was definitely a rude little shit.

The Englishman cleared his throat. "Well, let me show you where the car is parked. My family is waiting there for us, so you can meet them there. After that, we're going to drive home."

"That's awesome! I'm really curious to see in what tiny wood-buildings you backwards Englishmen li- OUCH!" Alfred twisted as Kiku pinched him in the side. "What was that for?"

"I'm sorry, Alfred-kun, but that was uncalled for."

Arthur rolled his eyes. Well, that was going to be a _fun _week...

* * *

After stowing their package in the trunk, Alfred, Arthur and Kiku sat down in the back of the small car.

In the driver's seat, there was a young man with reddish-brown hair, who looked a little bit older than Arthur.

He turned around to smile at the newcomers.

"Hello! You must be Mr. Jones and Mr. Honda, right? Our new pets?"

Kiku shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Uhm..."

Another man in the passenger seat boxed the Red-head in his stomach. He winced, but turned back to the cockpit and started the engine.

"I'm sorry. Patrick's always like this. It's nothing personally.", the other passenger said before flashing the students a bright grin.

"My name's Collin! Patrick and me are Arthur's big brothers, whom you've already met!"

"Hey, right!", Alfred shouted out. "I should've noticed that before! You have the same bushy eyebrows!"

He turned to Arthur. "Seriously, have you ever thought about waxing them?"

The smaller blond scowled. "I _do _wax them. Also, you may want to know that the next time you make such a charming comment about my appearance, I'm going to..."

"Shut up back there!", Patrick shouted. "We're almost at home. Could you please be quiet for the last 5 minutes?"

Alfred bit his lip. True, he didn't wanted to be here, but maybe he should at least try to behave himself? Because if he carried on like this, it seemed like the whole united kingdom would hate him in no time.

So instead of arguing with Arthur, he pressed his forehead against the window and observed the street. _Ju-just a moment, why are they driving on the wrong side of the road?_, he asked himself slightly confused.

* * *

After a few more minutes of uncomfortable silence, the car parked in front of an old-looking, white house.

"We're home", Collin whispered, as if he was unsure whether he should break the silence or not.

They all got out of the car, and he and Patrick lifted the package out of the boot.

"Damn, that's heavy", Collin gasped. "What did you pack, boulders?"

"Yo-you don't have to carry that for us!", Kiku claimed. "We don't want to be a burden!"

"Don't act so concerned, you worry-wart.", Patrick said. "Have you seen his thin arms? Collin definitely needs muscle-training, so why not start right now?"

Still a little bit troubled, Kiku followed the three Brits and his American partner.

They entered the house and abruptly stood in the warm, wooden kitchen.

Kiku eyed the western furniture interested, but Alfred's attention was drawn to something else: A glass box that stood under the stair case.

"Is that... a snake?", he whispered in awe. Kiku had never heard him speak so quietly.

"Damn right, that's my little Daisy!", Patrick answered smiling. "Ain't she a beauty?"

Arthur sighed. He had always hated that snake. When he was little, he had begged for a bunny, but did he get one? No, of course not; his parents had always claimed he was not able to take care of a pet. That was the reason he hated _ Daisy_: He was jealous that his brother was allowed to get a little animal, but he wasn't!

Collin suggested to show Alfred and Kiku their rooms, and the two happily followed him upstairs.

"You get Dylan and Rose's room. The twins are on a class trip right now, so you...", the Britons voice slowly faded.

Arthur intended to go along with him, but Patrick hold him back by grabbing his arm.

The friendly aura that surrounded him the whole time suddenly vanished.

"Okay, Artie, listen; I know you don't like strangers that much, but could you at least_ try_ to be nice to them?"

Arthur felt a hot blush starting to cover his face. He responded angrily: "Who gave you permission to call me 'Artie'? Also, stop making it sound like I'm a shy mess that 'does not like strangers'!"He gritted his teeth. "Why do you think you have to act like you're my parent all the time! Just because mum and dad aren't here anymore, that does not mean that you..!"He felt tears forming on his lashes. "Shit", he cursed, wriggling his arm out of his brother's grip. He stomped up the stairs angrily and almost collided with Collin, who had brought they boys to their room.

"Watch where you're going, bastard!", he spat.

He heard Patrick calling after him to watch his language and to snap out of his temper-tantrum, but he didn't care. He entered his room and threw the door shut. He didn't feel like listening to them.

* * *

Alfred stretched himself on his new bed. The sheets were unbelievable soft, but he still glanced at Kiku, whose bed was on the opposite side of the room, unsatisfied.

After showing them their room, Collin had asked them whether they wished for something to eat or not.

Alfred had already opened his mouth for answering that, yes, he was starving, but Kiku cut him down by declaring that, no thanks, there was no need to treat them any more.

"You're mean.", he grumbled. Kiku simply shrugged.

"What did you think happened downstairs?" His Japanese friend didn't answer.

"Hellooo? Earth to Kiku! I'm talking about the shouting! Jeez, did you already forget? Well, if I heard correctly, it was Arthur's voice. He's kinda odd, don't ya think?"

When Kiku refused to answer this time again, Alfred just assumed he was asleep.

"Good, don't talk to me. If you're already in dreamland, I guess I'll put myself to sleep, too."

The blond closed his eyes after whispering a "Good night" to the Asian.

The last thing that flashed before his eyes before falling asleep were emerald green eyes, that flashed at him annoyed.

* * *

_Author's Note: _Patrick - Scotland

Collin - Wales

Dylan - Northern Ireland

Rose - Ireland

Ah, this chapter got longer than I thought it would. (More than 2,400 words, jeez) I hope you enjoy it. :)


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